Board Compensation: What Is the Right Answer for Your Foundation?

Although most foundations choose to not compensate board members for routine board service—creating or revising foundation policies, overseeing foundation operations, attending board meetings, and more—one size does not fit all. For some small foundations, culture and assumptions, or specific strategies and rationales, lead the board to compensate its members.

This publication reviews:

The laws and rules that govern board compensation

Ways to manage the inherent conflicts of interest

Compensating board members for routine service

Compensating board members as professional advisors

Compensating board members providing staff services

Reviewing your board compensation policies and packages

Examples from the field

Help your board carry out a thoughtful discussion about board compensation, craft a policy that fits your foundation’s unique outlook and circumstances, and, if you decide to compensate, set a process for determining a reasonable compensation level.